Tagging Thyme Meme: 11 Random Questions

It seems that Raewyn Hewitt was tagged in a meme, but as she is sensitive to the fact that some folks don’t like being tagged (I don’t like being tagged for memes, for the record) she left it up to volunteers. The questions amuse me, and I have nothing else in line for this week, so here you have it! If you want to check out Raewyn’s answers, they are here.

1. What is the strangest thing you have ever eaten in public?

Um… this is a harder question than one might think. I ate a penny, once, but that was an accident. If only things eaten intentionally count, it depends on what one considers strange. I’ll leave it up for a vote. The candidates are:

fried scorpion

jellyfish

air potatoes

Spicebush berries

Syrup made from hickory bark

2. If you had to go on an adventure, with elves, dwarves, or hobbits, who would you take and why?

Most of you might expect this to be a no-brainer for me. In truth, though, it’s not as easy as it might be.

Despite the fact that “Thyme” is in the title of this blog, elves (even my own elves) would be my last choice. Even in the best of circumstances, I would feel isolated.

Dwarves would be my second choice because, as much as I have in common with them, I am not a Dwarf, and they can be insular. I hope I would be able to break into their good-graces eventually, but that cannot compete with Hobbits.

Hobbits, though not usually adventurous, have a good track-record for not giving up and for rising to the occasion. I have not seen many reckless hobbits, and they share my love of sleep, food, and natural beauty. Also, on the whole, they are more personable and accepting than the other races.

Ideally, of course, it would be nice to have a mix of traveling companions. Can you get a nerdier answer than that?

3. You are at a rural retreat lodge somewhere deep in Wisconsin or Canada. You are approached by a taxidermist who hands you a stuffed badger and asks you to put it in your lap. What do you do next?

I think my first reaction would be to ask why…

4. If you were given biscotti, would you prefer it with coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?

It depends… is it a good biscotti or a cardboard-like one? If the former? Tea. If the latter, then coffee.

5. In your opinion, who is the funniest man or woman alive today (comedian)?

Tough one. I don’t watch a lot of comedians, but I really like Tina Fey and Stephen Colbert.

6. If you were given thirty seconds on television to say something, what would it be?

8. If you could go on one date with a movie or television star, who would it be and why?

I hate questions like this. The thought of going on a date with any film or television star on whom I actually have a crush is horrifying, so that’s out. Once my brain stopped reeling from that unpleasantness, the first thing that came to mind was Hugh Laurie because he seems to have a high regard for one of my favorite authors of all time (P. G. Wodehouse) which would give us something fun to talk about. Also, I grew up on his Bertie Wooster, and I’d like to thank him for that. Obviously, for multiple reasons, this would be a purely platonic date.

9. What is the worst song you have ever heard?

There are a lot of contenders, but my brain collapses in abject horror every time I encounter this one: Friday .

10. If you could live anywhere else, where would it be?

Three or four hours’ drive east of where I live now. If I ever find a place that sinks into my bones the way the Appalachian Mountains do, I will be very surprised. I’ve seen some lovely places across the world. Nothing has come close.

11. Who – in your opinion – was the greatest person to ever live?

Jesus, but he is a given, considering my faith. Other than him? Hm… there are too many contenders. I would really love to meet George MacDonald, though. ;)

As Raewyn, before me, I am not going to tag folks, but if any of you want to join in, please do!

Heh, I was going to say “that’s an unusually decent meme” until 7 & 8 came up…Shanra and I reworked that book meme into unrecognisability to get rid of all the “aimed at probably-American teenage girls presumed for no known reason to think about sex, romance, and books in about that order” stuff, would you like to see? We both got busy before we could get started on it.

Are air potatoes a thing, or are they cultivated entirely by mimes? Also, surely there is not much meat on a poor bitty scorpion…

They are, indeed, a thing. A vine that has little potato-like things hanging on it. I think they’re native to Asia.
I suppose it depends on the scorpion, as some are quite large. This one was about the size of a grasshopper.

[works this out] Biiig grasshopper…tiny crickets…
Jellyfish don’t have feelings and are large enough they might expect (if their single, simple ganglion was capable of expectation) a big, wily human to predate them. Fruits are made for eating and I’m sure you didn’t eat tree-killing amounts of bark, that would be wicked (and also rot your teeth) unless it was an already killed tree…

Really? Are your grasshoppers smaller than your crickets?
I pretty much assume any living thing has feelings of some kind, which makes my random cruelty to bugs when I was a child a great source of shame. Eating them is, in my opinion, better than randomly killing them.
I don’t know that air-potatoes are fruits, in the normal sense, and though I didn’t kill a tree, I did take some bark, which sounds painful even though the tree in question sheds its bark. The only thing in the lineup I don’t feel sorry for is the spicebush, because, as you say, fruits are made to be eaten and I didn’t crunch the seeds.
p.s. I also don’t feel sorry for the penny.

As far as I’m aware, though I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wild cricket, and the sort they sell for snake food are getting on for locust-sized. Biggest grasshopper I saw was a lovely irridescent thing, but at most 4cm.

Jellyfish don’t have the processing power for anything beyond “discomfort” and “food”, and no evidence of non-instinctive memory…I suppose you could call those feelings, though they’re more sensations. Most bugs have rough observable feelings…though probably not cranefly, at least not beyond a permanent state of hunger as a larva and panic as an adult. It is, but either’s a rather petty thing for a high-level predator to dedicate their time to.
Oh? What are they? If it sheds, that is not so bad to take its leavings.

Ha! I found a big old 1897 penny yesterday with the old queen looking Stern on it, it amused me greatly.

Plants have far less “processing power” that we know of than jellyfish, yet you know how I feel about them. Lack of evidence means only that we have not found evidence, not that there is none to be found. Mm, but most people will dedicate their time to killing scorpions without eating them because scorpions sting.

I think they may be potential tubers/new plants.
Not if I pick them up off the ground.

Oo! I found a Liberty Dime the other day. Not nearly that old, but fairly rare. It was in good shape, too.

I think it’s a natural outgrowth of social media. Inevitable, really. They can be fun, but I overload on them quickly and I really don’t like being pressured to do them.
Ah, but the important question is #2!

Oh, I more than like Wodehouse. ;) Pardon me, while I gush. In my opinion, he is one of the Great Masters of the English language. It’s hard for light, fluffy comedy to be transcendent, but his best work achieves just that and I have never seen another author who knows his or her way around a turn of phrase like Wodehouse!
Fry is fantastic, but I think I would get along better with Laurie in person.

Since you don’t want to be tagged in a separate post, I’ll just answer the questions here, if you don’t mind.

Q. What is the strangest thing you have ever eaten in public?
A. My foot. It tasted like crow.

Q. If you had to go on an adventure, with elves, dwarves, or hobbits, who would you take and why?
A. A mad Juraian scientist, because Washu.

Q. You are at a rural retreat lodge somewhere deep in Wisconsin or Canada. You are approached by a taxidermist who hands you a stuffed badger and asks you to put it in your lap. What do you do next?
A. Verify that the badger to be placed in my lap is, indeed, stuffed, and not simply drowsy.

Q. If you were given biscotti, would you prefer it with coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?
A. Chocolate. Always chocolate. With just a hint of chocolate.

Q. In your opinion, who is the funniest man or woman alive today (comedian)?
A. Er, Eddie Izzard? I guess?

Q. If you were given thirty seconds on television to say something, what would it be?
A. Well, I certainly hope it wouldn’t be, “I cannot find my pants. If anyone has seen them, please call the studio.”

Q. What is your idea of the most romantic date setting ever?
A. A movie theater showing a classic comedy marathon and serving free popcorn.

Q. If you could go on one date with a movie or television star, who would it be and why?
A. Er, Eddie Izzard? Because he’s the funniest man alive today?

Q. What is the worst song you have ever heard?
A. “Wonderful Christmastime” springs to mind, although I wouldn’t mind punk music collectively vanishing from human memory.

Q. If you could live anywhere else, where would it be?
A. A land of my imagination.

Q. Who – in your opinion – was the greatest person to ever live?
A. Whoever it was that invented modern plumbing, that person is pretty awesome.